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AfterShock – Vancouver Scotiabank 1/2 2013

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Another one is officially done, dusted and in the books. Van Scotiabank 1/2 2013 was a personally challenging day for me and I am happy to say I crossed the finish line on my own two feet, beating my personal best but unfortunately not reaching my target time for the race.

Looking around the starting carrell I realized these runners meant business…. two piece suits, no music, and an air of confidence that was undeniable. The race gun went and we were off and flying, these guys were literally FLYING down the road and the remarkable part was they made it look so easy! I struggled through some calf cramping and was able to hold a solid place at the 10K mark 41 mins… wait what? 41 minutes! I definitely was surprised not only at my faster then expected pace but also about how I was feeling, I felt great! Well great may be an exaggeration but I felt like I could hold pace which meant I would definitely finish the race under my goal time of 1:30… 8 minutes faster than I ran in 2012. All was going well and I was coming into stride until the 13 K marker. The guy in front of me took a stumble and as I side stepped around him I pulled my right quad. It immediately was painful, painful enough I seriously considered pulling out of the race, but knowing I had killed myself through the first 13 K and I was over half way done on pace to meet my goal time I just couldn’t do it. I had to keep going, in my mind I had no choice but to persevere even if I had to walk the finish I was able to hold pace to see my parents at the 15 K marker an hour into the race but with just over 6 K to go I couldn’t hold pace. Every step I took was excruciating and causing me to tense up my back and shoulders to try and take weight off that leg. With no kick at the end I crossed the finish line and to my shock still was able to finish in 1:33.48. As much as it just kills me that I was so close to my goal and didn’t succeed I’m still so happy to have been able to finish the race and beat my time from last year and still came 5th in my age category.

Thank you to my family, boyfriend and friends for all of the support I got both going into an during this race. Knowing I had so many people behind me is what made it possible for me to mentally put the pain aside and push through. That support and knowing I had an awesome waffles breakfast awaiting me after I crossed the finish line!